to adapt like a Frog
by Greninjohns
Summary: My current life coupled with my favorite pokemon, Greninja. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

It was another long day for me. I arrive at my home at around 10:30 at night, feeling exhausted from work. I grabbed my keys from my large, two gallon blue lunch box and carefully unlocked the front door of my house. I entered inside quietly knowing that my parents are asleep. The only visible light in the area was a small oven light that faintly glowed in the kitchen. I dropped all of my personal items into my room, opened up the garage door, and stored my bike away, then closed it again. Usually, my family leaves some of the leftovers on top of the oven. I grabbed the amount of food that I wanted, placed it on one of hundreds of Styrofoam plates, and microwaved my food. It was a Thursday night, which usually meant pizza. I was pleased with that since it was one of my preferred things to enjoy. I stuffed myself with two slices and then downed it with water. Before I went to bed, I cleaned up the kitchen by washing down all the dishes and put them out to dry along with sweeping the floor, putting the food away in the fridge, and finally scrubbing down the counters. Mind you, it's 10:30 at night. It sucks to do these things, especially coming back from work. Why couldn't my sister do that for me? She stays inside most of the time anyhow.

Currently, that is basically my life. My name is Jonathan, an 18 year cart associate who is currently employed at Wal-Mart, the neighborhood market. No, it's not the whole clothing, electronics, jewelry, camping, and other crap all in one. Imagine this Wal-Mart as a grocery store, such as Publix. Anyhow, every two weeks I get paid, some of my paycheck goes to "rent" which my Step-Father enforces. He's this Gun-ho 35 year military veteran who is the strictest man you'll ever meet, but I love him anyway. He's been in my life for about 2 years or more and made me the man I am today. I am about to enter my senior year in my high school career and hopefully wishes to enter into the Air-Force someday.

Well, that's a little bit about me and the things I do. Work has been an extremely rough road for me. As a cart pusher, I often work outside. Oh, haven't I mention I live in Florida, where temperatures there could boil a baby inside a car within minutes? I have to endure the humid heat; sometimes that can feel like the lower 100's. Of course, I keep myself hydrated at all times and not to push myself too far. I even wear a camouflaged hat, like the one designed for the everglades. These few months have testing my mind, body, and soul. All the pain, all the sweat and negative emotions, all the mind-numbing stress I go through no longer exists. From now on, feeling tired is normal, I feel no emotion about my job other than the fact that it's important to keep it, and I am in the best shape of my life. My managers although give me a hard time at times, were impressed at how far I've become. So they've gave me even more hours. Thanks to my Step-Father's extensive "training", I walk, feel, express, and communicate almost like a soldier on the job.

Outside my job, I am gladly myself. I love playing smash bros on the go with my new 3ds xl. Mainly, I play as Greninja, but for whatever reason, I obsess over this fictional character. Greninja can be looked at in different ways. It could be an intimidating force reckoned in some of the meta-games it currently dominates both in ORAS and in smash (Well, was anyhow.), a cuddly friend who would just be there in times of trial and error, or even be entertained as a newfound fetish. Well, fortunately for me, all three of those reasons are rightfully so if you ask me why I love him or her.

That's basically sums up what I am in a nutshell. As I was saying, after eating some dinner, I walked into my room. It's basically lived in, sometimes it looks like a mess because I am just a bit tired or not in the mood to fix it, but I maintain it. I turn on my fan-light, go on the computer for some laughs on Youtube for a bit; maybe even play some rounds in for-glory in smash, just a normal night for me.

So around 11 or 12, I turned everything off, blast my ceiling fan on high setting to keep me cool, changed to some gym shorts, and was about to go to sleep. It was pitch-black, so finding my cute Greninja plushie in the dark was a bit difficult, but I managed to find it by feeling around my surroundings. Just when I went to grab it, cover myself in my comforter, and fall asleep, I noticed something different. In front of my bed, there's my closet. Yeah, there's nothing new here. It has a mirror to check my appearance and has space for my clothing. But, I could recall that I closed it before leaving to work. Why had it been opened slightly? I thought nothing of it, but a tenth of a second later I heard subtle rustling inside…

Well, the worst thing that could possibly be inside from what I image is that a rat of sorts could have ended up in there. So I got up to investigate. As I head towards the closet, a bright red light glowed from the inside. This startled me, so I went on the defense to find out what it is. Immediately, I went towards my closet door and slide it wide open, my right hand encased to a fist in case of an intruder. Almost instantly, I saw something that looked vaguely familiar, but that mysterious presence overtook my consciousness. How? I felt a crushing blow towards the front of my torso, as if I was hit by a speeding car. Since it was too dark to tell what hit me, the blow had made its imprint onto my stomach. From what I can tell, I was kicked, but oddly, its foot wasn't anything solid. I pictured two pieces of muscular bars held together at one point and they spread from that point at an acute angle. Between that, there was a thick layer of padding? This can't be my scuba gear spontaneously coming to life. It must be something else.

As soon as I got kicked, the impact sent me flying back first against a nearby wall. I banged my head against it and fell down, landing atop my bed once more before blacking out. I have no clue how long I was out for, but thankfully, I was able to wake up from that assault. As I open my eyes, I was held upright by something. Whatever it was, the creature had its thin, oddly amphibious arms around me. As much pain I was in, I tried an attempt to fight back, but it firmly held its grip. I freaked out when it somehow salivate my right side of my body; I felt a large, thick tongue drooping nearby. So naturally, I decided to scream as an attempt to call for help. That miserably failed too, its padded hand covering my mouth before I even uttered a cry. So lastly, I just simply waited for death to come. My Step-Father raised me to be a man, so I should die like one too. I closed my eyes and calmly waited for it to finish me off, preparing for the after-life…but it never did.

Instead, its head lay against my left shoulder comfortably, muttering its soothing call.

"Gren…ninja."


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I wake up with this strange creature I have yet recognized to be Greninja. At first, I thought for a second that where I am and the things happening around me is still a dream and I have yet risen from my sleep. However, as minutes passed by, I continued to stare at my so called "Imagination" while it peacefully snored comfortably within my bed-sheets. I looked to my back to see a crater-shaped indent against the drywall where I remembered being kicked against it and immediately passing out. Soon after, I felt a minor headache surfacing at the back of my skull. Yep, this is in fact reality. I was still laying down in my bed of course when I checked my surroundings this morning and I didn't want to wake Greninja should I have to move around; I believed another terrible event might occur if that be the case.

So I stood up, pressing my back against the wall and waited…

The Greninja then startles me when its eyes shot open, short-hops to its toes, turns around, and faces me, its arms slouching in front of its legs while facially expressing signs of neutrality and curiosity. I panicked, not noticing the obvious notation of passive behavior presented in front of me. Without my control, I huddle against a corner, fearing the worst. However, the Greninja just continues to stare at me, not doing anything that would jeopardize my life. I needed to calm down.

So I decide to take a few deep breaths of air and subdue my foolish trembling. I at least manage to relax myself before I make myself ready to interact with it.

"Hello…my name is Jonathan. What are you doing in my house?" I spoke. Hearing my voice in my head seconds later, I bet from what it sounded like, that sentence indicated the following things to Greninja; I'm still a bit nervous as I attempt to establish a relationship, and two, mistakenly show hostility at the same time by questioning its actions and motives. Damn it. It came out wrong.

This next thing it did was rather strange. I've taken note that it brought both of its webbed hands together in a clap as it continued to crouch in front of me.

"Ok, it's going to respond back." I first thought to myself.

However, that wasn't the case. Greninja decides to perform what I saw, six different handsigns within a fraction of a second. From that point on, it raised up one hand above its head while positioning the other against its chest. Then…my wallet which was lying against my dresser flew towards my direction and landed on my lap.

"Hello Jonathan. Sorry, I was looking for a place to sleep. Do you mind?"

Its mouth or tongue didn't move. How was it speaking to me? Oddly, it sounded rather…feminine I suppose. No matter.

"Wait, how are you communicating without moving a single muscle on your face?" I asked puzzled.

"It's quite simple actually, but I don't wish to elaborate. You have the intellect to figure it out on your own."

Well, for one thing, she's right. Greninja(s) in general have a diverse movepool they could use to fight off any kind of threat. However, some of them are special. If one should have the ability, protean, they instantly become the type the attack is before performing it, nothing new. Everyone knows that. However, one move in particular is extrasensory, a psychic typ-err. This Greninja is a psychic. Great. Telepathy and everything…and the fact that she is able to analyze my thoughts.

I could hear her giggling in my head now before she became a bit stern.

"So, you're in fact attracted to my kind are you?"

I was desperate to come up with something to say, hoping not to die.

"Umm…yes. That is true." I responded. Hopefully, a little honesty could spare me. "I know it's wrong, but I honestly couldn't resist. You're attractively thin, you can kick ass any day of the week whether it's on land or water, don't get me started with that tongue. But look, I don't believe I'm a pervert. Since the beginning, I've been afraid of you. Plus, I have enough common sense to know what the word "No." means. Please, you can stay as long as you want, but please, don't kill me."

She got a bit closer to me, not aggressively at all. "You know, you're one of the first people I've met who's that honest yet respectful. There's no need to be afraid of me anymore."

"Really?"

She leaned forward, laying her moist chest against mine slowly while placing her head softly on top of my shoulder. I stood there, frozen by her gentle movements.

"Look, you want a hug and everything, but I seriously don't want to offend you. I…umm, slightly aroused right now." As soon as I said that, I flinched and closed my eyes.

"It's fine. I get it. That is honorable to show restraint on yourself, but you don't need to torture yourself any longer. I trust you, so be yourself."

"Alright…"

Well, I decide to hug her back, feeling that sleek, cool back of hers. I felt her drooling, extensively long tongue hang over the back of my neck, lengthening down to my ankles. She felt so warm and cuddly; I didn't know what to do. Soon after, I let myself go, allowing my erection to expand above my crouch. However, that ended rather quickly seconds later when I climaxed myself in my gym shirts. I just can't. If that happened immediately just by hugging alone, "Interaction" might just put me into a coma.

"You're kidding, right?" She said, giving me a look of disbelief.

"…Yeah…" I wasn't sure how to respond to that event myself, so I stared off into my own confusion.

"…It's fine. I just didn't think you would actually-"

"Ok, let's change the subject!"

I numbly tried pulling of a smile, trying not to experience any embarrassment. I looked fictional, as if convincing someone that cardboard and pieces of steel are completely identical. There was no way I could fool her.

"Have you ever tried hol-"

"Hey, umm, are you hungry or-"

There was silence…we just stopped trying to interrupt each other. Our thoughts, our emotions, everything going on in our heads screeched to a halt. We began to talk again. I was the first to begin this new conversation.

"Look, I don't know if you can relate to what I'm going through, but I need to ask you something…"

She opened her mouth slightly, revealing a smile at the sides of her face despite her "scarf" in the way. "You don't need to ask me something. I already know what's inside your-"

"I get it, but I'm not used to that. I hate it whenever someone tries to give out an answer before I even have time to think about what I'm asking about."

That very second, she flinched. Greninja didn't expect nor read that kind of response in my mind. Although, changing into different types has its benefits, it does come with a few hindrances. These species of pokemon were never born a pure psychic type; therefore, they will never obtain the complete benefits of one.

"Ok, I didn't mean to be rude. Go on and tell me."

I imagine myself working for the first few days outside, pushing the carts around the parking lot. I remember the soreness, the sweat and pain I was going through. I often complain about it, asking my CSM if there was someone readily available to assist me. But over time, I grew stronger, becoming more capable to endure to scorching heat. Yes, I did still complain, not as much. But months later while doing the same job, there was a day where all of my emotions, my thoughts, my muscular strain, they all went down into a void of nothingness. Since then, I became an empty shell of a person where only my flesh and blood is the only thing that remains active, not my thoughts. Self-importance was replaced with logic and I now refuse to give up no matter how tired I am. Sure, when I leave from work, all of my human self comes back to life, but at work, I'm a machine bent of completing a task no matter the cost, maybe that coldness might extend to regions outside of my job. Yet, I ask this one question since I'm not sure if I should continue on like this.

"What do you think is more important to you? Keeping who you are alive or keeping your own flesh nourished?"

The Greninja began to think at that question, but easily answers it with grace.

"I see. They're both easy to obtain, however, they both interfere with one another. Should you focus only what makes you yourself, it will destroy your vessel, or your body entirely. That is what makes people selfish and they tend to envy others who don't worry about themselves. They ask "How could they pull off such feats of strength and courage daily without a simple complaint from their mouths?" while also starving to death due to their non-compliance with personal responsibilities. Should you only focus only on keeping yourself alive, it will kill off the joys and rewards life has in store for you. That is what makes people miserable and they tend to envy others who maintain their own way of life without regrets. They ask "How could they enjoy being themselves and happy if there is work to be done?" while slowly inching their way to suicide due to self-induced depression. Like I said, they're both important for a person to be alive. It's even more important to balance them both. Finding that balance between who you are and what you need to do to survive is life's most difficult challenge. Don't focus on yourself, but don't quit doing what's important either."

"How exactly do I balance that out?"

She placed her right arm onto my back. "Only you could figure that out, I'm afraid."

I honestly never thought of myself that way. It must be a miracle for this strange creature I obsess over to exist in front of me. Not only is she cute looking, but rather wise. This might be the most valuable information in my life, but how do I apply it?

"One last thing." She spoke once more.

"Yes. What is it?" I leaned over to listen in to whatever she may say to me.

"You're more than welcome to hug me again if you want, maybe I'll even "play" with you…"

I blushed.


End file.
